Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Bug Hotels

When I opened the latest issue of Sunset Magazine, I was surprised to find a whole spread on Bug Hotels. A Bug Hotel sure sounds like a place that you don't want to visit, right? Well, it's actually not a seedy motel room with weird stains on the comforter, it's a home for friendly insects in your garden. Bug Hotels offer shelter and food for beetles, spiders and solitary bees.

This framed bug hotel looks like a piece of art, but with all of the different sized holes and the stacked wood, it provides a great resting place for carpenter bees and various types of beetles.

This slice of wood is a great place for bees to stop and rest while out gathering nectar and pollen, (and pollinating your plants!)

Stacked sticks and branches offer a great home for beetles and spiders. Though spiders and beetles are creepy and crawly, they help keep mosquitoes in check.

Adding yarn to the mix gives your neighborhood birds material for their nests.

Because I'm always searching for ways to improve our garden, I'm anxious to create some of these beauties myself. Any other ideas on ways to make a garden more inviting for friendly insects?

12 comments:

Those are really cute bug hotels. I have used a worm tower right in the garden for composting and it lets lots of worms make themselves at home in the garden and spread their awesome castings throughout. :)